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Mystery Debut of the Month, September 2012

Hugo Marston, a former FBI agent, works security at the U.S. embassy in Paris. He is enough of a maverick (he is from Texas, after all) to probe deeper when his friend Max, a bouquiniste (one of those famed booksellers along the Seine), is kidnapped. Dumbfounded by the police’s lackluster response, Hugo calls in Tom, his buddy from Quantico, now a retired CIA operative who’s bored out of his mind. Then there’s the lovely Claudia, a reporter who smells a good story and who just happens to be the daughter of a count. As the bodies of more missing booksellers are found floating in the Seine, Hugo finally gets a police detective on his side. The chase is on! VERDICT Pryor’s steady and engrossing debut combines Sherlockian puzzle solving with Eric Ambler-like spy intrigue. With a cast of characters you want to know better and a storyline cloaked in World War II betrayals (think Nazi collaborators), the author winningly blends contemporary crime with historical topics. Pair with Cara Black’s Aimée Leduc series for both locale and tone. [See also Claude Izner’s Parisian bookseller-themed historical, In the Shadows of Paris, in Series Lineup.]